Glossary/Programmatic/Open auction
What is an open auction in programmatic advertising?
How the open auction works, where it fits next to private deals, and how publishers lift its prices.
Written by Samhub with the help of AI·Updated 13 Oct 2026·3 min readAn open auction (open exchange) is a programmatic auction where any approved buyer can bid on a publisher’s ad impressions in real time.
Open auction vs private deals
| Open auction | Private marketplace | |
|---|---|---|
| Buyers | Anyone in the exchange | Invited buyers |
| Price | Auction, often with a floor | Auction with a higher floor |
| Data | Limited signals | Audience data in the deal |
Strengths and limits
The open auction gives scale and fills impressions direct sales do not. But buyers see many similar impressions, so prices follow the market rather than the value of your audience.
16 pages for publishers, with a checklist for data, programmatic and direct sales.
Lift open auction prices
Pass audience signals
Give buyers a reason to bid more.
Set smart floors
Per placement and audience.
Move valuable audiences to deals
Sell your best data in private deals.
CPM uplift at Stampen Media after activating first-party audiences with Samhub.
Frequently asked questions
No, it is useful for scale. It should not be the only channel.
Advertisers and agencies through DSPs.
Most open auctions today are first-price.
It varies. Many publishers aim to grow the share from deals.
Related terms
Invite-only auctions for premium inventory.
An auction for every single impression.
The lowest price a publisher accepts for an impression.
The winner pays exactly what it bid.
Samhub audiences let you set higher floors and win more data deals, in every channel you sell.
- A walkthrough with your own data
- Built for publishers and media houses
- 30 minutes, no commitment
Turn your audience data into more revenue
Get the Media Monetization Playbook: how media houses turn first-party data into higher CPMs, data deals and direct sales. With checklists for every step.
